Dandy Warhols to release collaborative charity album

The Kooks, Dinosaur Jr's J Mascis, the Bravery and the Raveonettes are among those contributing to the Dandy Warhols' new charity project, Breathe Easy.

The Dandys have for the past 18 months been inviting bands to their Portland, Oregon studio, the Odditorium, to jam, play and record together. Now some of these tracks will be sold online, with all profits going to a land conservancy project.

Starting on October 21, the first of the 12 Breathe Easy tracks will be sold digitally at unnamed websites. The songs cover a wide range of styles, according to a press release. "Genre becomes loosely articulated," it reads. "What unites the pieces is the emotion, the spontaneity that comes from collaboration and inspiration. It's music that conveys both the individual contribution and the integrity of the whole."

Alongside the artists previously mentioned are contributions from the Black Angels, Bauhaus, Midnight Movies, Saul Williams and Spoon's Britt Daniel. The benefiting charity is the Three Rivers Land Conservancy, dedicated to protecting land by Oregon's Clackamas, Tualatin and lower Willamette rivers. The conservancy hopes to save 10,000 acres of natural habitat.

The project's official trailer boasts that "hundreds of bands" will ultimately contribute – and presents a bass-heavy cacophony to assert Breathe Easy's potential. Let's put it this way ... we admire the concept.